Collaboration and Power in Sweden’s Bioeconomy Innovation System

Philipp Jonas Kreutzer

2024-09-06

Forest-Based Bioeconomy

RQ

1. How collaborative is the innovation system ?

2. Which innovation system actors exercise most power?

Theoretical Framework

Typology of Power Relations (Avelino, 2011, p. 75)
Relation Type	Manifestation of Power Relations
More / Less Power	Cooperation A exercises more power than B, but collective goals	Competition A exercises more power than B, but mutually exclusive goals	Co-existence A exercises more power than B, independent co-existent goals

(Avelino & Rotmans, 2009, 2011)

Data From SWINNO Database

Significant Swedish Innovations

~ 5000 unique innovations

Literature-Based Innovation Output method

from 15 independent trade journals (Sjöö et al., 2014)

Stating collaborations

Firm aggregation a challenge

Results

Bioeconomy Innovation Producer Network Summary

Network	Nodes	Links	Average Degree	Density
1970-1983	87	64	1.47	0.02
1984-1990	52	40	1.54	0.03
1991-2008	78	65	1.67	0.02
2009-2021	35	27	1.54	0.05
Total	231	196	1.70	0.01

Output and Innovation Producers Declined

Figure 1: Nodes, Average Degree and Innovation Output Over Time for Bioeconomy Innovations and SWINNO Innovations.

What explains the decline in firms and output?

The Innovation Producer Network Was Highly Fragmented

Figure 2: Network of bioeconomy collaboration over time. Gray circles indicate final network.

Embedded network Disaggregated network

Most Powerful Bioeconomy Innovation Producers Included Sweden’s Biggest Companies

Which are more active producing innovation for non-bioeconomy purposes

Figure 3: Innovation Experience of 10 Most Connected Actors.

Take Aways

Swedish bioeconomy innovation is declining relative to total innovation
Bioeconomy innovation producer network highly fragmented and shrinking after 1980
Most powerful innovation producers more active outside bioeconomy

References

Avelino, F. (2011). Power in Transition: Empowering Discourses on Sustainability Transitions. https://repub.eur.nl/pub/30663

Avelino, F., & Rotmans, J. (2009). Power in Transition: An Interdisciplinary Framework to Study Power in Relation to Structural Change. European Journal of Social Theory, 12(4), 543–569. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368431009349830

Avelino, F., & Rotmans, J. (2011). A dynamic conceptualization of power for sustainability research. Journal of Cleaner Production, 19(8), 796–804. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.11.012

Sjöö, K., Taalbi, J., Kander, A., & Ljungberg, J. (2014). A Database of Swedish Innovations, 1970-2007. Lund Papers in Economic History, General Issues(133), 77.

Appendix

Bioeconomy Degree Distribution

Bioeconomy network

Embedded Network

Figure 4: Network of all innovation in database. For better clarity, only nodes with more than 1 collaboration are shown. Sizes of individual nodes correspond with cumulated total innovation. Fill color shows a company’s share of innovation within the bioeconomy compared to its total innovation in SWINNO data. Collaborations resulting in a bioeconomy innovation are highlighted in color.

Bioeconomy network

The 10 Most Connected Nodes – Disaggregated

Network	Nodes	Links	Average Degree	Density
1970-1983	94	75	1.60	0.02
1984-1990	63	68	2.16	0.03
1991-2008	97	100	2.06	0.02
2009-2021	85	116	2.73	0.03
Total	318	359	2.26	0.01

Bioeconomy Network – Disaggregated

Bioeconomy network

Embedded Network – Disaggregated

Figure 6: Network of all innovation in database. For better clarity, only nodes with more than 1 collaboration are shown. Sizes of individual nodes correspond with cumulated total innovation. Fill color shows a company’s share of innovation within the bioeconomy compared to its total innovation in SWINNO data. Collaborations resulting in a bioeconomy innovation are highlighted in color.

Data – Defining the Bioeconomy

Table 1: Key Sectors Used in Query

SNI Code	Description
02	Forestry and related services
20	Wood and wood product manufacturing except furniture
21	Pulp, paper and paper product manufacturing
36	Furniture manufacturing; other manufacturing

Table 2: Swedish Keywords used in Query: WHERE description LIKE %keyword% OR ...

Swedish	English
virke	timber
cellulos	cellulose
lignin	lignin
spån	chip
bark	bark
levulinsyra	levulinic acid
furfural	furfural
svarttjära	black tar
svartlut	black liquor
växtbas	plant-based
ved	wood
trä	timber
skog	forest
biobränsle	biofuel
biologiskt	biological
nedbrytbar	biodegradable
papper	paper
karton	carton
lyocell	lyocell